The Greatest Thing You'll Ever Learn
by stellarstar2005
Summary: Read it and find out
1. Spectacular, Spectacular

Title: The Greatest thing You'll ever Learn  
  
Author: Krysteena  
  
Pairing: although there are some R/D undercurrents in some of this, I assure you that this is going to be an R/T!  
  
Summary: I'm not going to give you one because I'm evil and suck at summaries :) But if you like the movie Moulin Rouge I think you'll like this fic.  
  
Rating: PG13  
  
Disclaimer: Not. Mine. End. Of. Story.  
  
**Note: this is in Rory's junior year, and in my universe, Tristan never left, and they did the Romeo and Juliet play....and it takes place a few months after that.  
  
**Another Note: To all of you who were/are reading my fic, "All you need is Love", I'm very sorry that I have not updated...I have been busy writing this, and have also had a really bad case of writers block for the third chapter. So if you've read that fic and have any ideas, e-mail me at stellarstar2001@aol.com .Thanks!  
  
**One Last Note: Any and all song lyrics are from the Moulin Rouge Soundtrack (also not mine ::grits teeth::) Lyrics start and end in little *s except if they're singing them. This might be confusing, because it's sort of a song fic, but there's also music lyrics that are part of it, but whatever, you'll figure it out. Okay, I'll shut up and let you read the actual fic! Please drop me a line, tell me what you think!  
  
  
  
Chapter 1: Spectacular, Spectacular  
  
*There was a boy  
  
A very strange enchanted boy  
  
They says he wandered very far  
  
Very far  
  
Over land and sea*  
  
  
  
Rory gazes longingly out the window of her English class. It is the last day of the Shakespearean division, and the teacher is blabbing about something or other. It is hard to concentrate. It is also Thursday, which is next to Friday, which is the start of a three day weekend. She sighs and gives one last fleeting glance out the window before dutifully turning back to the teacher.  
  
"Moving on.....does anyone remember the last big project we did? Come on guys, your parents aren't paying for you to come and forget everything...did they?" she says, smiling, while the class thinks about it. One girl in the front row raises her hand. " Yes, Lisa?"  
  
"Was it the 'Romeo and Juliet interpretations'"? Lisa asks uncertainly. The teacher smiles and nods.  
  
"Someone with brain cells! Yes, that was our last project. And now, to conclude what I like to call the "Red Curtain" trilogy, we're going to do something slightly similar. Has anyone seen the movie, "Moulin Rouge'?" There are muffled groans, as the class realizes what is coming.  
  
"Stop your moaning...you haven't even heard the project... the assignment, which is 200 points, is to reenact the movie, 'Moulin Rouge'. My other class is doing the other part of the trilogy, "Strictly Ballroom' But unlike Romeo and Juliet, the class will perform as a whole, instead of in groups. And only about 80 to 85 % of you will actually get to be onstage." she pauses, "Are there any questions?"  
  
Paris' hand shoots up. The teacher sighs. " Yes Paris?"  
  
"How long does the play have to be? You know, the movie is 2 hours and 18 minutes, I doubt people will sit through something that long. Do we have to have a director? What about choosing parts for the actors? And what about—?" The teacher cuts her off.  
  
"Paris, one question at a time, not twenty. Okay, to answer your first question, you should put the movie into play form. Remember, in the movie, there were some special effects that you would not be able to incorporate into the play. And I think we could do without some of the parts... I think most of you know what I'm talking about. So when you take out all that, it will probably be about an hour an a half or more. Not likely to be less than that, though, unless you chop out some of the major storyline. Okay?" Paris nods curtly.  
  
"Alright, this project is due on June tenth. That gives you about three and a half months to do this, which is a long time, considering this is Chilton. Starting tomorrow, we will be meeting in the theater. Oh, and to answer your other question Paris, yes there will be a director, and she/or he will decide who gets which part and make most of the decisions, but I will also be in there most of the time to supervise the director."  
  
"Okay, get out your assignment books..." her voice is cut off by the bell. Everyone shuffles to get their stuff together. Rory is going out the door when Paris walks briskly up beside her.  
  
"What does 'Moulin Rouge' have to do with Shakespeare? This is a terrible project." She says in her usual blunt tone, "I'm going to be director for this monstrosity of an assignment, since I'm the only person in our class who is capable of directing. What do you think?"  
  
"I think it sounds sort of fun... I just don't want to be the lead!" Rory groans, remembering the last play, " Especially to Tristan!"  
  
"Oh, come on Rory, you guys look good onstage together." Paris scrutinizes Rory, " And you might make a good Satine. Can you sing?"  
  
"No! Well, yes, I can sing, but I sing in the shower where nobody can hear me, I refuse to sing onstage, in front of lots of people!" Rory protests firmly, " Paris stop making all these plans, we don't have to start until tomorrow."  
  
"Yeah, well, okay I have to go tutor the sixth graders . See you tomorrow and think about what I said." Paris calls out as she walks down the hallway.  
  
"Yeah whatever." Rory mutters. She gets to her locker, and unloads her books. She slams the locker shut, and surprise, there is Tristan, leaning against the locker.  
  
"What do YOU want?" Rory asks warily. She is already tired and not in the mood to spar with him.  
  
"I just wanted to know if you had the Moulin Rouge soundtrack. I wanted to borrow it, I'm going to practice my singing so I can be Christian. Are you going to be my whore, oops, I meant courtesan?" he asks smoothly.  
  
"Not a chance in hell if I have anything to do with it, but most likely I will, knowing my horrible luck." Rory sighs and starts walking outside. The parking area is mostly empty, only a few people are loitering around.  
  
"We could practice our, um, singing, with each other . I bet we would make beautiful music together." He smirks.  
  
"Ooh, how long did that one take you? Three, four hours? Get out of the third grade Tristan, and start acting your age. Or at the very least, half your age." Rory says bitingly as she stands waiting for the bus. She sees it coming down the street, and sighs in relief.  
  
"You don't have to take the bus you know. I could give you a lift." Tristan offers, dropping the act. Rory doesn't even notice.  
  
"I would rather get into a car with the antichrist then you, Tristan." She says as she bounds onto the bus. It roars off as Tristan just stands there.  
  
"So that's a no?" he says to no one, disappointed.  
  
***  
  
  
  
A Couple Days Later...  
  
"No! No, no and no! I refuse to do it!" Rory yells, frustrated.  
  
"Why not?" Paris says, oblivious to Rory's frustration. "You're the only person who is any good at acting AND singing, and it'll look good on your college applications..." Paris coaxes.  
  
"Not with him!", Rory points at Tristan, " He'll screw everything up and he's impossible to work with!"  
  
"Now Mary, that wasn't very nice of you to say, was it?" Tristan says, mock hurt. " You make me sad, I think I'll go over there and cry." Tristan starts to go over to a corner, but Paris grabs his arm.  
  
"No! You guys are both going to be leads, and that's the end of story." Rory starts to protest, but Paris glares at her, " Rory, think about this, the project is worth 200 points. Do you know how much that is?"  
  
"Why couldn't Louise play the lead? She's practically a courtesan anyway." Louise starts to defend herself, but then thinks about it and shrugs, agreeing.  
  
  
  
"Because Louise is a terrible actress, and an even more terrible singer. Rory, you're going to play Satine, or I will stick you in Harry Zidler's part-- and that includes the fat suit, okay?" Rory nods mutely, dejected. "Well, good. And now, I've already started cutting and pasting the scripts into play form, they won't be ready until Wednesday.... meanwhile we can figure all the details out, like costumes and schedules for practicing ." Paris says briskly.  
  
Paris turns to go sit in the special chair she has brought in. Rory glares at her retreating back and sticks her tongue out. Then she sighs and turns to face Tristan, who is struggling not to laugh.  
  
"Oh yeah, this is hilarious, isn't it?" She turns back towards Paris and scowls.  
  
"Rory, can your mom do costumes again?" Paris asks.  
  
"I don't know, how many costumes will she have to make?" Rory replies, still scowling.  
  
"About fifty." Paris says airily while writing down something on her pad of paper.  
  
"That many? There's not even that many people in the play or in our class!" Rory asks incredulously.  
  
"Think about it. There's all your costume changes, and then there's all of the others costumes changes for each scene, although I think we can get away with only one or two costumes for Tristan's character and maybe some of the minor characters, so this number is liable to change." Paris reasons.  
  
"Wait....I get ONE or TWO costumes while Little Miss Clotheshorse over there gets like twenty?" Tristan asks incredulously, "I don't think that's very fair!"  
  
"Tristan, your character wears pretty much the same thing throughout the whole movie! Why should it be any different in the play?" Paris says impatiently, " Don't argue, we don't have time for it. Hmmm...I wonder if I can get the scripts done any sooner so we'll be ahead of time." Paris thinks aloud to herself.  
  
"Paris, calm down, I think you're taking this whole thing way too seriously: at this rate you'll have a heart attack." Rory says calmly.  
  
"I can't calm down! We need to have the scripts so we can memorize so we can practice so we can perfect!" Paris says harriedly.  
  
Rory just shrugs and gives everyone else a look that says, 'whatever, I tried to stop her'.  
  
"So back to the costumes....Rory maybe your mom can do just the courtesans costumes....and we'll hire a costume maker to do the rest. Although we can pretty much just buy the guys costumes at a tux shop and then there's the regular people and the...."  
  
***  
  
  
  
"Ahhhh! School sucks Mom!" Rory groans as she walks into Luke's.  
  
"Now there's a song and dance I haven't heard before. Get it? Song and dance? Come on whore, sing for me!" Lorelei says giddily. Rory sits down.  
  
"Very funny. How much coffee have you had? Seriously, this stupid production is driving me crazy! With Paris as director, you'd think we were actually filming a movie, instead of a pointless high school production. And don't even get me started on Tristan! Argh!" Rory gestures angrily, and almost whacks Luke, who is coming over to the table.  
  
"Hey watch it!" Luke growls with a hint of a smile on his face. "So what do you want today? The usual?"  
  
"You know it! And make it an extra large cup of coffee, I've had a really BAD day." Rory starts moaning again, and Luke sighs and shakes his head and leaves to go make her order.  
  
"It's okay hon. It'll get better.....after it's over you'll be able to laugh about it!", Lorelei notices the grimace on Rory's face, " Or not. But your grimace might be a little prettier."  
  
"Can we go on another road trip, to some place far, far away?" Rory pleads hopefully.  
  
Lorelei laughs and says, "Sorry, babe, the only way to get through this is to endure it. It'll all pay off when you get into Harvard!  
  
"Yeah, maybe. But I swear, I'm counting the days till June 11!" Rory says desperately.  
  
  
  
***  
  
  
  
Rory walks into the auditorium. It has been a week since the rehearsals started, and yesterday the teacher informed the class that she would not be able to supervise them most of the time because she had to take a special Chilton English teaching class. Rory doesn't like the sound of that because this means that Paris now has full rein of the show which is a scary thought indeed. She is shaken from her reverie when Tristan saunters into the auditorium.  
  
"Hey Rory." He says casually.  
  
"What, no Mary? This is truly a shocking day!" Rory says sarcastically, "Glad to see that you've FINALLY learned my name. Now the next step is a little more tricky: remembering it."  
  
Tristan laughs, an odd sort of laugh. "Why do you hate me?" he asks, his voice not filled with sadness, but regret.  
  
Rory looks up at him in surprise. "I don't hate you." She says carefully. "But you've never given me a reason to like you either."  
  
"How about we try that friends thing again?" Tristan asks.  
  
"Ha! I remember what happened last time. How about you prove to me that you can actually be a friend and THEN we try that friends thing again...okay?" Rory says firmly.  
  
"I guess I don't really have much of a choice, do I?" Tristan says disappointed. Still being considered for a friend was better than nothing.  
  
"Nope, not really. But it would be nice to have a friend here at Chilton." Rory smiles, a somewhat cautious smile, at him, and he feels a rush of warmth towards her. Hey, hope, even just a sliver, is what keep people alive, isn't it?  
  
Just then, Paris walks into the room.  
  
"Where the hell is everyone else?" she asks, angry. " This is class time. If they think they can just ditch because the teacher isn't here anymore than they better think otherwise."  
  
Rory looks over at her and laughs. "Chill Paris, the bell hasn't even rung yet. I'm sure they'll be here. They want that 'A' as much as you do. Probably not as much but..."  
  
Paris sighs. "Well, we're on a very tight schedule Rory! We can't waste very valuable time, because we have so little of it."  
  
"Um, Paris? We still have about three months left. I wouldn't exactly call that a little." Tristan says offhandedly.  
  
Paris glares at him, and he shuts up meekly. Rory snickers. And he turns and mock glares at her. She mimics his meek look back at him.  
  
Finally, little by little, the rest of the class trickles in. Paris gets everything organized, and everybody is soon busy rehearsing.  
  
Tristan comes over to where Rory is sitting on the edge of the stage practicing her lines.  
  
"Hey, can we practice the scene with the Elephant Love Medley song in it? I'm still a little bit shaky on that one, and I want to see how it sounds with the singing."  
  
"Sure, let me just finish reading this line." Rory gets up and brushes herself off. "Okay, I don't want to practice in front of everyone, so can we find a quiet spot to rehearse?"  
  
"We should practice in front of everyone so we can get used to being in front of people." Tristan suggests.  
  
"Ugh! I don't wanna sing in front of people!" Rory whines. "Do I have to?"  
  
"It would help." Tristan says helpfully. Rory groans, but reluctantly goes over to the center of the stage.  
  
"Hey Paris, we're going to rehearse one of the scenes. Tell us what you think afterwards, alright?" Rory asks nervously. Paris nods.  
  
"Okay, here we go." Rory takes a deep breath and Tristan begins the scene.  
  
"Love is a many splendored thing. Love lifts us up where we belong. All you need is love!" Tristan(Christian) says energetically.  
  
"Please don't start that again." Rory(Satine) says in her cultured(and fake) French/British sounding accent.  
  
"All you need is Love!" Christian sing-songs.  
  
"A girl has got to eat." Satine interjects.  
  
"All you need is love!" Christian repeats, still half singing/half speaking.  
  
"She'll end up on the street!" Satine objects.  
  
"All you need is love!"  
  
"Love is just a game!" Satine finally sings back.  
  
"I was made for loving you baby, and you were made for loving me!" Christian sings in an exaggerated deep voice.  
  
"The only way of loving me baby is to pay a lovely fee!" Satine sings back.  
  
"Just one night, give me just one night!" Christian pleads.  
  
"There's no way, 'cause you can't pay!" Satine fires back.  
  
"In the name of love, one night in the name of love!" Christian sings irrationally.  
  
"You crazy fool! I won't give into you!" Satine sings, almost laughingly. She turns to leave.  
  
"Don't! Leave me this way, I can't survive without your sweet love, oh baby, don't leave me this way." Christian starts out desperate, but gradually goes into a quiet submission.  
  
Satine turns back to him. "You'd think that people would have had enough of silly love songs!"  
  
"I look around me and I see it isn't so, oh no!"  
  
"Some people wanna fill the world with silly love songs." Satine croons almost sadly.  
  
"Well what's wrong with that, I'd like to know, cause here I go again..." Christian sings, "Love lifts us up where we belong, where the eagles fly on a mountain high!"  
  
"Love makes us act like we are fools, throw our lives away, for one happy day..."  
  
"We can be heroes, just for one day!" Christian bellows.  
  
"You, you will be mean" Satine says, frantically, trying to make excuses to stay away from him.  
  
"No, I won't" Christian laughs.  
  
"And I, I'll drink all the time." Satine says, trying to hold onto her excuses.  
  
"We should be lovers!" Christian sings at her, trying to make her see.  
  
" We can't do that." Satine sings, her eyes begging him to understand.  
  
"We should be lovers, and that's a fact!" Christian continues.  
  
"No nothing would keep us together...." Satine trills realistically.  
  
"We could steal time, just for one day!" Christian sings determinedly.  
  
" We can be heroes, forever and ever, we can be heroes, forever and ever, We can be heroes!" Satine and Christian sing together, Satine at last succumbing to her desires.  
  
"Just because I, and I will always love you!" Christian belts out his promises at her.  
  
"I only can't help..." Satine starts.  
  
"Loving you..." Christian finishes softly with Satine. He holds her close. And Satine smiles up at him.  
  
"How wonderful life is, now you're in the world!" Satine sings lightly. They stop singing, and Christian leans in real close.  
  
"I can tell, you're going to be bad for business." Satine teases. Then they're supposed to kiss. The Satine mask comes off, and Rory freezes, scared. Then she shakes that feeling away, and leans in to kiss him.  
  
At the touch of her lips, Tristan is shocked. Shocked that her lips can still affect him like that. He had thought that once you've kissed a girl, all the sparks and hype go away. But not with Rory. Every time he's kissed her, which is not many times, he feels a wave of helplessness come over him. It feels like he's sky-diving, which he has done many times just for the thrill of it. It feels like he's being run over by a Mack truck, but it also feels like he's being kissed for the very first time.  
  
At the touch of his lips, Rory is weak in the knees. She now possesses a greater understanding of the power of a kiss. Her heart and her head are racing towards a full on collision. Her heart is swooning, while her mind is shaking it's head and reminding her that this is a person that she has greatly disliked until not even twenty minutes ago. But for the time being, while in this powerful, mighty kiss, her heart won out.  
  
Too short it seemed, the kiss comes to an end. Rory and Tristan just stare into each other's eyes breathlessly. Then Rory shakes herself out of it and turns abruptly towards Paris.  
  
"Well?" Rory says, still a little dazed, her hands on her hips.  
  
Paris grunts. Inside she had been floored at the scene. They look so good together. She couldn't help feeling smug that she was right. They were going to get an 'A' on this easy. She was also fighting away pangs of jealousy as she watches them interact, but she brushes those away. She doesn't want to resent Rory for some stupid guy who doesn't even like her. That would be immature. But resenting her for being smart and pretty, well, that was acceptable. To them she says,  
  
"Not bad."  
  
Rory looks at her in disbelief. " I put all the effort I had into that scene, and all I get is a 'not bad'?!"  
  
"Next time, sing a little louder in the beginning, I could barely hear you." Paris says brusquely. Rory throws her hands up in the air and makes a strange groaning noise. Tristan laughs at Rory quietly. So she was putting all she had into it, huh?  
  
As Tristan and Rory walk down from the stage, neither is feeling quite the same than they had at the beginning of the day.  
  
***  
  
  
  
*A little shy and sad of eye  
  
But very wise was he*  
  
  
  
  
  
Authors Note: Well, that was it! Part one! Sorry if it was a little boring, but this was the chapter that explained everything. Expect some tension in the next chapter as Dean makes his appearance in my fic! Don't forget to review... 


	2. Freedom, Truth, Beauty, and LOVE

See chap. 1 for info.  
  
Chapter 2: Freedom, Truth, Beauty, and LOVE  
  
  
  
"It was just a stage kiss, it was just a stage kiss..." Rory repeats to herself as she walks from the bus stop to her house.  
  
"Meaningless. That's what it was." Rory mutters, refusing to listen to her rapidly getting louder heart.  
  
"Did you hear me? MEANINGLESS!" Rory yells, her face flushed from anger. Anger at what? Tristan? Herself? Dean? Only Rory had the answer to that.  
  
"What was meaningless?" Lorelei pops her head around the front door.  
  
"Mom! Have you been waiting for me to get home by the front door again?" Rory says admonishingly.  
  
"No, I was just, doing some, umm.... work! On the front door, making sure it worked ya know, when I heard you shout. You were so loud, I would've been able to hear from anywhere though." Lorelei says guiltily.  
  
"Yeah, sure...so what kind of work were you doing on the front door?" Rory asks innocently as they walked into the house.  
  
"Oh, I was.....hey wait! You're trying to change the subject! Sneak! The coffee gods are displeased at you for trying to trick your dear mummy who raised you with the wolves..." Rory puts up her hand to stop her mother's babbling.  
  
"Mom! Once again, doing that 'making no sense' jingle you're so good at." Rory says, no longer tense, now that she was with her mom.  
  
"So what was meaningless?" Lorelei bounds right into the subject.  
  
"Nothing was, I was just... I was practicing my lines!" Rory says, the idea clicking in her head.  
  
"Nice try sweetie, but no dice. I've seen that movie thirty times, thanks to a CERTAIN SOMEONE, who made me watch it over and over, and at no point in the film does she yell, 'Did you hear me? Meaningless!'. So spill." Lorelei says gently. This could be something big, by the way she had been yelling.  
  
"Well, first off, Tristan made peace with me, which was really unnerving, because it was so unexpected. So we were rehearsing this scene, and everything was going fine. Until the end." Rory pauses.  
  
Lorelei looks at her excitedly. "What? What happened?"  
  
"We had to kiss. And the kiss, it was...oh God! It was incredible. It was unlike any other kiss I've ever had. I forgot my name in that moment. All I could think about was his lips on mine. I didn't want it to end, yet I wanted to pull away and scream at him for making me feel that way." Rory confesses.  
  
"Oh my God! Wow, that's big news. What are you going to do?" Lorelei says pityingly.  
  
"I don't know. Dean has never made me feel that way. He makes me feel safe. When ever I'm around him I feel content. But when I was with Tristan, I felt tingly and my heart was racing a million miles a hour..." Rory trails off, her mind lost in thoughts of the emotions she felt when she was kissing Tristan.  
  
"But just because I felt something when we kissed doesn't mean anything. I'm not going to do anything about it. I love Dean! He makes me happy and safe. And up until today, I've loathed Tristan. This should be no contest. So why do I feel like I'm doing something bad?" Rory says gloomily.  
  
Lorelei pulls Rory close and hugs her. She pulls back and looks at her daughter seriously.  
  
"Honey, I know you probably don't want to hear this, but I think you should re-evaluate your relationship with Dean. Because if you really loved Dean, then you wouldn't feel something for Tristan when you guys kiss."  
  
"I love Dean. I'll just make myself not feel anything for Tristan when I kiss him." Rory says stubbornly.  
  
"How is Dean taking the whole you-Tristan thing anyway?" Lorelei changes the subject.  
  
"Well," Rory looks uneasy, "I sort of, haven't told him."  
  
Lorelei looks at her daughter in shock. " Does he even know you're in a play?"  
  
"Yes, of course! But he doesn't know that I was paired with Tristan as the two leading love interests—again." Rory tries to make it like it's no big deal, but Lorelei knows better, she knows why Rory hasn't told him. She knows how Dean is possessive with her.  
  
"I hate to say it babe, but you're screwed. Dean is going to flip when he finds out. Especially that you waited so long to tell him. Good luck."  
  
"I'm going to need it!" Rory groans and puts her head in her mothers lap.  
  
***  
  
  
  
Rory walks to the supermarket where she is supposed to meet Dean. After her talk with her mother, she has some doubts about the relationship, but refuses to address them. She doesn't want to break up with Dean. She remembers the last time they broke up, and how lonely she was.  
  
"Hey Dean!" Rory waves to him as she crosses the street to over where he is standing.  
  
"Hey Rory." He hugs her, and Rory sighs a deep blissful sigh. She is happy to be in his warm arms. Thoughts of being in Tristan's warm muscular arms surface, but she ignores them. She wants to enjoy being with Dean.  
  
"How are you? How is the play going?" Dean asks tenderly as they walk to Luke's.  
  
"The play? Oh, it's going fine!" Rory chirps quickly. Dean looks over at her.  
  
"Fine? That's not what you were saying last week. I believe you were alternating your hate between Chilton, Moulin Rouge, Paris and Tristan."  
  
At his last word, Rory is once again reminded of Tristan, and after that, kissing Tristan. Which led to guilt. And anger.  
  
"Meaningless." She mutters under her breath.  
  
"What?" Dean asks concerned. Something is off tonight, and Dean is worried about what is wrong.  
  
"What? Oh, nothing. I didn't say anything. Silence over here!" Rory bounces back into perky voice.  
  
"You're acting strange tonight. Is anything wrong?" Dean questions her. She shakes her head and smiles.  
  
"Nope nothing wrong. Well, actually, yes there is." Rory takes a deep breath.  
  
"What? Is it school?"  
  
"It's the stupid play. I'm Satine." Rory says.  
  
"Wow, you got a lead part! That's great! Wait, why is this bad?" He looks over at her suspiciously.  
  
"It's who's Christian." She says, knowing he is going to be furious.  
  
"Who?" He asks wearily, knowing what's coming.  
  
"Tristan." She finishes, relieved to finally told him.  
  
"Ugh! I hate that guy! He can't even act, I remember that Romeo and Juliet scene. He was so smug about being Romeo. Why is he Christian? You should ask Paris to give the part to someone else, anyone else!" Dean spouts off angrily.  
  
"She won't, because he actually does make a good Christian. And there's nobody else that can sing and act, so we got put together again." Rory said nonchalantly.  
  
Dean glares at her. "You know, really not helping with the whole situation right now."  
  
"I think you're doing a good job of holding in your anger. Usually by now you would be yelling and going to go look for Tristan to punch him out."  
  
"I want to, believe me. I desperately want to. But I know you would be angry at me if I messed up the play." Dean admits to Rory, " But from now on, I'm going to come and watch your after school rehearsals whenever I can to make sure he doesn't try anything."  
  
"Dean! You can't do that! Paris would be pissed and Tristan would just do something to provoke you, you know that. Besides, I can deal with him myself, I don't need you to watch over him. And I don't think we'll have too many after school rehearsals until a couple weeks before opening night. Right now we only have in class rehearsals." Rory tries to reason with him and Dean relaxes slightly.  
  
"Fine, but if he does anything at all, tell me, and I'll deal with it, okay?" Dean says gruffly.  
  
"Yes, Dean." Rory snuggles closer to Dean, and he relaxes completely.  
  
"I just love you so much." Dean whispers into her hair. Rory tenses up. She has gotten used to hearing that from him, but today, it doesn't sound right. It sounds wrong, like it should be coming from a different person. But Rory forces herself to loosen up.  
  
"Meaningless." She whispers, but the look of melancholy on her face and the sorrow in her tone tell us otherwise as she stares out the window of the diner.  
  
***  
  
  
  
"Okay people, listen up! We're not accomplishing as much as I hoped we would at these in class rehearsals. So I was thinking we could practice after school here. But when I asked the teacher about it, she said that the other class had already asked to use it after school....so how about if we practice at somebody's house?" Paris calls out.  
  
"Tristan, your house has that big dining room, why don't we rehearse at your house?" Paris asks, and Tristan thinks about it.  
  
"Sure, whatever. Are we doing it today? Because I'll have to clear it with my parents first." Tristan replies distantly as he stares off into space. As usual, his mind is on other things, or one certain person, to be exact, and he has trouble concentrating on what is actually being said.  
  
"No, we can start at your house tomorrow if it's okay." Paris says, just as distantly, but for different reasons. She is so busy trying to figure things out in her head, trying to make things work.  
  
"Okay, now get to work! Tomorrow at Tristan's house we'll practice the opening Moulin Rouge scene, so be prepared!"  
  
Paris walks over to where Rory is standing, memorizing lines.  
  
"Rory, are you free tonight? Because if you are, I was thinking you and Tristan could start practicing the 'Your Song' scene at Tristan's house. Because we haven't really focused on that scene at all, and I really want to finish going through all the scenes by Friday, so we can actually put the play together by Monday and start rehearsing it in order. So are you free?" Paris says all of this in one breath.  
  
Rory takes a minute to think about it. She was supposed to help Dean with his Trig homework tonight, but she could probably do that later.  
  
"Yeah, I'm free, what time should I be there?" Rory is nervous about doing another love scene with Tristan, they had been avoiding each other since the kiss.  
  
"I still have to talk to Tristan about it, but I'm thinking around five to maybe six thirty, seven?" Paris rushes off without waiting to hear Rory's answer, and Rory replies to the air,  
  
"Sure, that sounds fine Paris."  
  
***  
  
  
  
"Where's Paris?" Rory asks as she walks into the library, where Tristan is waiting.  
  
"She just called me and said that she wouldn't be here until five forty five at the earliest because her mom is making her attend a family dinner thing." Tristan responds quietly. He isn't sure how to act around Rory. He is still stupefied from her kiss, and desperately wants to take her in his arms and kiss her senseless, as crazy and cliched as that sounds.  
  
"Oh, well, should we start?" Rory looks anywhere but at Tristan, and is currently very interested in the floor.  
  
"You don't have to be nervous around me, we're, almost friends now, right?" Tristan says, sick of the silence.  
  
"Yeah, and it was just a stage kiss, between Satine and Christian!" Rory says, getting into it, reassuring herself that she has nothing to feel guilty about.  
  
"It was..."  
  
"Meaningless." They say to each other at the same time. The look at each other, startled, and then laugh shakily. Rory notices, not for the first time, how blue his eyes really are.  
  
"So where would be a good place to rehearse?" Rory asks, more comfortable.  
  
"My room, I guess, because isn't a bedroom scene?" Tristan isn't exactly at ease with the idea of Rory in his room but he figures there's no other room that would be as good.  
  
"Okay, lead the way, navigator!" Rory jokes. She isn't exactly comfortable with being in his room alone with him but figures that he won't try anything.  
  
***  
  
Rory looks around his room. It's a typical teenage boy's room, with posters of rock bands and clothes strew all around the room.  
  
"Sorry it's not very neat, I'm generally a messy person, and I don't like it when the maid comes and cleans in here." Tristan apologizes as he picks up the clothes and throws them into his huge closest.  
  
"It's okay, you should see our house, it's extremely messy!" Rory laughs.  
  
"Okay, so shall we get started?" Tristan asks, once the room is semi-clean.  
  
"Yeah, lets start at, 'wonderful place for a poetry reading', okay?" Rory says. She doesn't really like this scene, because she basically is trying to make love with Tristan while he reads poetry.  
  
"You got it." Tristan likes this scene, because Rory has to put her hands all over him, or, make it look like she is anyway. She essentially acts like a crazed madwoman in this scene. They slip into character and begin.  
  
(Satine is in her little dressing room area, and Christian is looking out the window, waiting for her. She comes out)  
  
"Wonderful place for a poetry reading, don't you think?" she says alluringly. Christian turns around.  
  
"Some champagne?" she asks.  
  
"I'd rather just get it over and done with." He answers nervously.  
  
"Oh. Very well." She walks over to the bed and lies down on it. "Why don't you come down here, and get it over and done with?"  
  
"I'd rather do it standing." Christian replies. Satine starts to get up, " You don't have to stand, I mean. It's just, sometimes it's quite long, and I'd like you to be comfortable. It's quite modern, what I do, and it may be a little strange at first, but, but if you're open to it, then you may find that you enjoy it."  
  
Satine smiles, and Christian tries to begin.  
  
"The sky....is blue? No.." Christian starts mumbling to himself.  
  
"Um, is everything alright?" Satine asks, concerned.  
  
"I'm a little nervous, and sometimes it takes a while for, inspiration to come."  
  
"Ooh." Satine nods understanding. Then she gets up from the bed and starts walking over to him, saying, "Let mummy help."  
  
"Does that inspire you?" Satine says, and then throws him on to the bed.  
  
"Let's make love!" she says enticingly. "You want to, don't you?"  
  
Christian struggles to get up. "No, I can't."  
  
"Tell the truth, feel the poetry!" Satine says, trying to rip at his clothes.  
  
"Yes, I need your poetry now!" She screams.  
  
Christian gets up from the bed.  
  
"It's a little bit funny, this feeling inside." He speaks while fidgeting with his hat nervously.  
  
"I'm not one of those who can," he searches for a word, "easily hide!"  
  
Christian looks over at Satine, who is staring at him, puzzled. "Is this okay? Is this what you want?"  
  
Satine then understands. " Ooh. Poetry! Yes, yes, yes, this is what I want, naughty words!"  
  
"I don't have much money, but boy if I did, I'd buy a big house, where we both could live!" Christian continues, while Satine is screaming, I love it! To herself and rocking back and forth.  
  
"If I were a sculptor, but then again, no. If I were a man who makes potions a traveling show." He pauses, and Satine looks over at him.  
  
"Don't stop!" she pleads. She keeps repeating that, but Christian still proceeds.  
  
"I know it's not much." Christian looks over at Satine with disgust, " but it's the best I can do." He turns back to the window and belts out,  
  
"My gift is my song!" He sings really quiet now, "And this one's for you. And you can tell everybody, that this is your song. It maybe quite simple, but now that it's done."  
  
Satine just stares at him in astonishment and awe.  
  
"Hope you don't mind, hope you don't mind, that I put down in words," He pauses, "how wonderful life is, now you're in the world!"  
  
"Sat on the roof, and I kicked off the moss." Christian sings soulfully, "Well, some of the verses, they've got me quite cross. But the suns been kind, as I wrote this song, and it's for people like you that keep it turned on!"  
  
Satine slowly gets up and Christian holds her close.  
  
"So excuse me for forgetting, but these things I do!" Christian gazes straight into her eyes, "You see I've forgotten, if they're green or they're blue! Anyway, the thing is, what I really mean...Yours are the sweetest eyes, I've ever seen!"  
  
Christian swings her around and they start dancing around the room, envisioning dancing on clouds in the sky, while Christian keeps singing.  
  
"And you can tell everybody, that this is your song! It maybe quite simple, but now that it's done...I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind, that I put down in words..." Christian murmurs, "How wonderful life is, now you're in the world"  
  
Rory, not Satine, just stares at him, and then, without thinking, leans in and softly presses her lips against his. Tristan is shocked, but he responds with a gentle force. They stay like that for about thirty seconds and then they hear a throat being cleared. They pull away, startled.  
  
Paris is at the door of Tristan's room, uncomfortable.  
  
"Hi Paris! We were, um, practicing!" Rory says, her voice sounding loud to her ears. All she can hear is her heart beating. Tristan wipes his mouth.  
  
"Yep, busy rehearsing....so, how did your dinner go?" Tristan says, still occupied wiping lipstick off his mouth.  
  
"Oh, it was a normal Gellar event." Paris says dryly. "It ended with my mother screaming accusations at my father and throwing perfectly good china at him, while my relatives cowered and took notes so they could report it back to the wolves at the club."  
  
"Sounds like fun. I'm going to go tidy up. Where's the bathroom?" Tristan instructs Rory, and she leaves the room.  
  
Paris turns to Tristan. "There was no kiss in the scene you were rehearsing, was there?"  
  
Tristan looks at Paris guiltily and shakes his head. "It just happened, I had just finished 'Your Song' and she was supposed to deliver her line, but she just leaned in and kissed me, wham, out of the blue! God, I hate her, yet, I think I, lo- love her." His voice shakes at that last sentence, he doesn't say it often.  
  
Rory is standing around the corner listening to him talk to Paris, and Paris replies to him, but Rory doesn't hear what she says. She gets a scared look on her face and turns around and starts down the stairs.  
  
***  
  
  
  
* And then one day  
  
One magic day  
  
He passed my way  
  
While we spoke  
  
Of many things  
  
Like fools and kings,  
  
This he said to me.  
  
"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love, and be loved in return."*  
  
  
  
Authors Note: Well, there it is, Part 2. Thank you to all of you who have reviewed, it makes me very happy indeed! I will probably get the next part out sometime next week or sooner, depending on how busy I am. I'm also thinking that there will be 2-3 parts left, but I'm not sure. Don't know where I'm heading with this, but we'll find out! 


	3. Sing out this song...

See chap 1 for info.  
  
Authors Note: Well, here it is, Part 3! I was having trouble with this chapter(see definition of writers block) and how to write it, and had to revise it many times, but I generally like it and would appreciate if you told me what you thought. Thanks! :)  
  
  
  
Chapter Three: Sing Out this Song....  
  
  
  
Rory sprints down the stairs rapidly. She is halfway to her car when she hears Tristan call out her name.  
  
"Rory! Wait!"  
  
She stops and turns around. There are angry tears running down her face, and she makes no move to brush them away.  
  
"You can't love me! You don't know what real love is! A couple of lousy kisses does not instigate love!" Rory shouts at him.  
  
Tristan catches up to her and looks down at his shoes. "So you heard what I said to Paris, huh?"  
  
"Yeah...How can you love me? You're incapable of love, just ask the dozens of girls you've gone out with. And you don't know me at all. So...how can you love me?  
  
Tristan gazes at Rory in disbelief. "How the hell can you be so damn judgmental? You don't know me at all either. You know me from my reputation, but that's only one aspect of me. Maybe I've just never found THAT girl, the one to love, did you ever think of that?"  
  
Rory sneers at Tristan, tears still in her eyes, which gives her a slightly funny look to her, but then a somewhat hostile tone comes into her voice. "Your reputation is based on how others see you." She says mockingly, repeating something Tristan had once said in a debate in English class.  
  
"Don't you think people can fall for each other at a second glance? I saw you once, and I saw you as a conquest. Someone to be owned. I saw you again, in a different light, when you refused, and eventually began loving you. Maybe it was a silly infatuation then. But then when I kissed you, I knew it was love, or something like it. I had fallen deep Rory. I've kissed lots of girls, believe me, and that's the first time I've ever felt something like that! Don't even tell me you didn't feel anything for me when we kissed! The feelings there could not have been one sided!" Tristan says pleadingly.  
  
"I won't deny, that, I felt something...but I shouldn't have! I have a boyfriend, who I know loves me, and won't ever leave me." Rory lifts her chin up defiantly, her eyes still red-rimmed, but no longer tearing up.  
  
"Yes, we've established that he loves you, but the real question is, do you love him?"—Rory starts to answer—"No don't answer yet. I think Dean's holding you back. Granted, you want to be held back, but nonetheless, you're being held back. He's stifling you. Being with him and him only doesn't let you explore your feelings with other people, like me. And I think the only reason that you're with him at all is because you're scared. Scared of being with other people. He's like your goddamned security blanket. "  
  
Rory shakes her head violently in frustration. "I am NOT being stifled! Did it ever occur to you that we are all not like you Tristan, jumping from girl to girl? And that maybe I actually like being with the one same person for a long time?"  
  
"Or maybe you're afraid of ending up alone. Maybe you don't think anything between us could possibly work and you're too scared to give us a chance. In that case, then the fault is purely on you, and you could be missing out on what could be the greatest thing in your life." Tristan curls his lip in disgust and starts trudging into the house. Rory just stares after him, pondering over what he said.  
  
***  
  
  
  
Paris rushes up to the stage . "You!" She points at the guy playing the Duke, Rob, who is lounging on the seats in the audience. "Do something...I want to see everyone in here making themselves useful, whether it's rehearsing, or painting sets, just be busy or I will hurt you!"  
  
There were good-natured groans of "You're a slave driver Paris!" here and there, and people reluctantly got up to start working.  
  
Rory and Tristan hadn't really talked to each other since Tristan had left her standing there on his yard, except for rehearsals and pleasantries. Oh, they had had to kiss many times since them, but all of them had been forced, cold kisses that had no warmth or passion. Rory was still stuck in her relationship with Dean, and wondering why she still was. Tristan had his usual horde of girls, but all his actions seemed halh-hearted.  
  
"Hey Rory!" Paris calls out, and Rory turns and looks at her, waiting for the rest of what Pairs had to say. "Run through the 'Come What May' scene with Tristan, he's having a hard time with it."  
  
"But Paris!" Rory starts to protest, "We've run through that scene like three hundred times, I really don't want to do it again!"  
  
Paris gets real close to Rory and grabs her arm. "Run through the scene again, Rory." She says through gritted teeth. Rory nods, and heads up to the stage, where Tristan already is, and they go to their marks.  
  
"Should we start?" Tristan asks Paris. She nods, curtly, and they begin.  
  
Tristan is sitting at his "desk" where there's a typewriter, and he's just staring into space. Rory is on the bed on the stage, staring at Tristan, a sad look on her face.  
  
"Where were you last night?" Christian asks, hurt.  
  
"I told you, I was sick." Satine says quietly.  
  
Christian walks over to where Satine is and grabs her hands  
  
"You don't have to lie to me." Christian says melancholy. Satine pauses and then says suddenly,  
  
"We have to end it! Everyone knows. Harold knows. And sooner or later the Duke will find out. On opening night, I have to sleep with the Duke. The jealousy will drive you mad."  
  
Satine gets up and walks over to the "window" on the stage, Christian follows her  
  
"I'll write a song, and we'll put it in the show! And whenever we sing it, or hum it, we'll know that we love one another. I won't get jealous." Christian says urgently. Satine gazed at him, her eyes pleading him to understand.  
  
"Things just don't work that way. We have to end it." She says, her voice wavering.  
  
Christian holds her close and starts to sing, unsure at first, but gradually getting stronger. "Never knew I could feel like this. Like I've never seen the sky before. Want to vanish inside your kiss, every day I love you more and more."  
  
"Listen to my heart, can you hear it sings, telling me to give you everything! Seasons may change, winter to spring, but I love you, until the end of time."  
  
As he sings, everyone in the audience is looking at him in awe. Sure, they've heard him sing before, but this time, they could tell that it wasn't just Christian singing anymore. Over the span of a few moths, they've seen Tristan go from womanizing playboy to gentle loving Tristan, and they're all amazed that one girl can change a person like that.  
  
"Come what may! Come what may! I will love you," He smiles at Satine, "until my dying day."  
  
Satine is suddenly Rory, and she seems to be having trouble breathing. She chokes out a sob and glances at Paris. And then she steadies herself and gazes into Tristan's eyes. And finds herself lost in the deep, enchanting blue.  
  
"Suddenly the world, seemed such a perfect place." She sings softly near his ear, just so he can hear. "Suddenly it moves with such perfect grace."—Paris yells for her to be louder, but she is too wrapped up into Tristan—" Suddenly my life doesn't seem such a waste." Rory reaches up and places one hand on his cheek lovingly. "It all revolves around you."  
  
"And there's no mountain too high or river too wide!"—Rory pulls away from Tristan and sings in loud intervals—"Sing out this song and I'll be there by your side!"  
  
Rory sings quietly again, to a shell-shocked Tristan. "Storm clouds may gather, and stars may collide. But," Rory gazes meaningfully into his eyes to let him know this is all her and not Satine, "But I love you, until the end of time!"  
  
Tristan allows his lips to curve up into a heart breaking smile, and he opens his mouth to sing along with her.  
  
"Come what may! Come what may! I will love you, until my dy-ing day!" They cling to each other as they sing, as if they don't ever want to let go.  
  
At this point, Tristan is supposed to give Rory a kiss, so he does. Not a mind-blowing, knee weakening one like the other two, but a soft, gentle kiss; a simple kiss, yet filled with a passion all of it's own, a passion that Rory is lacking with Dean. And both are reluctant to end it, but eventually they do.  
  
They hear applause, and they remember that they had an audience. Rory becomes extremely embarrassed, but Tristan gives her a reassuring look, telling her with his eyes that only he knew that it was beyond acting. They walk off the stage, and Rory beckons Tristan to come over near her so they can talk.  
  
"I'm going to end things with Dean tonight." Rory says quietly. Tristan just waits for her to continue.  
  
"I just,"--her voice catches—" what we have is so, I don't know, it's confusing. I want to take things slow, I want to discover what exactly my feelings for you are."  
  
"You're infuriating! How can it be that whenever we argue or when you make a smart ass comment I get so angry, but then, when we kiss, I forget about everything and everyone? It's one of those situations that I thought only happened in stupid, cliched love movies." Rory continues on, almost sadly. Tristan still just stands there silently, absorbing what she said, and giving himself time to think about what to say to her.  
  
"Well? What do you think about all this? You've been oddly silent throughout the whole thing." Rory looks at him expectantly and Tristan gathers up courage.  
  
"I think you're making the right choice, by breaking up with bag-boy, sorry, Dean. But then, you knew I would say that. Bet you weren't expecting me to say this. I don't want to be with you, not until you've figured out what you're really feeling. Because I remember last time, when you had just broken up with Dean, and I remember how hurt and utterly alone I had felt afterwards, and I would never want to go through a pain like that again. And also I want you to take some time alone and figure out if you really like me, or if I was just somebody who wasn't Dean. I'm hoping that wasn't the case, but hey, you never know. So, until you sort out your feelings about everything, I don't want to be with you."  
  
Rory looks up at him, shocked. She had expected to Tristan to jump right into her arms. But she does understand, and is a little hurt, but she knows he's right.  
  
"Okay....but when will we know when we can be a 'we'?" Rory asks him.  
  
Tristan smiles at her thoughtfully. "Believe me, we'll know."  
  
***  
  
  
  
Well, end of Part 3! This chapter was shorter than the others, and there's a reason for that....just give me a second to think of that reason. And although it looks like a happy Trory end is near, don't be fooled by appearance...don't worry, Trory happiness will be at the end, I think, but not after some of that good ol' angst that we're so fond of. Don't expect Part 4 anytime really soon, unless I get a sudden inspiration, which most likely won't happen. Oh, and for the most part I've decided to abandon my other fic, 'All you Need is Love', until this fic is finished. Okay, whew, that was a lot of writing. Don't forget to review! 


	4. ...And I'll be here by your side

See chap 1 for info.  
  
Authors Note: Sorry, not much T/R interaction in this chapter. And I'm really sorry, but Dean isn't going anywhere for actually, another couple of chapters... :hides in corner waiting for angry people to go away: Sorry! I don't like it either. But don't worry, he'll be gone soon enough. I think. Ooh, and Paris isn't in this Chapter either, but Lane and Louise are!  
  
Chapter Four: ...And I'll be here by your side.  
  
  
  
"Dean? We have to talk.... I've been thinking, about a lot of stuff lately, but mostly, I've been thinking about us. Dean, our relationship is going nowhere. We're one of those boring couples that acts like they're married. I think we should....break up." Rory says, looking anxiously into the mirror. "No, that sounds too harsh. I want to be nice, not cruel!"  
  
"Babe? Whatcha doing?" says Lorelai as she comes into the room and flops down onto the bed.  
  
"Mom..." Rory groans. "I can't figure out what to say to Dean when I break up with him. Everything I've thought of sounds dumb or mean. How do you break up with somebody nicely?"  
  
"Sweetie, I'm gonna let you in on a little secret." Lorelai says as she lays down on Rory's bed and stretches out. "There is no 'nice' way to break up with somebody. Any way you do it, it's still going to hurt. I still think you should go with my plan."  
  
"Yeah, Mom." Rory says disgusted. "I'm just going to go over to Dean and say, 'Hey, I'm sorry, but aliens have invaded my body and they decided that they don't like you....but they think that Tristan guy is pretty hot."  
  
"Well, when you put it that way, it sounds stupid. It's all about wording Ror."  
  
"Mom, anyway you word it, telling your soon to be ex-boyfriend that extra terrestrials have taken over your brain is going to sound STUPID." Rory says, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "Mom, why don't you break up with him for me? You can say the whole aliens line, because you know, you'd love that so much."  
  
"You can do it Rory. I have faith in you. Just be strong. Hey! And look, Frieda Fickle here thinks you can do it too!" Lorelai says cheerfully, holding up a stuffed pig.  
  
"I just—I never thought that I would ever have to be planning my break up speech for Dean. I mean, I thought we'd be together forever. Be a boring married couple that does the same ho-hum thing every, single, tiresome day....Oh my God! It is such a good thing that I'm breaking up with Dean! I'll be free! I'll be able to talk to other boys, not that I do, but I have the right, and I won't have to worry whether Dean will get mad or not."  
  
"No, you'll have to worry whether TRISTAN will get mad or not. So really, you're not going anywhere, you'll just be with a different guy." Lorelai says amusedly.  
  
"Yeah, but think, Tristan is such a flirt, he won't care if I'm talking to Jess, or somebody, because he does it too. And he doesn't seem like the possessive type...I think. But hey, one never knows. Nobody would have ever predicted that he would actually like me, not just want to...you know. Or that I would ever like him back." Rory says, almost forgetting about the task on hand as her mind drifts toward Tristan. And his incredible blue eyes.  
  
"Earth to Rory!" Lorelai waves a hand in front of a starry eyed Rory. Rory looks at her, startled and glares.  
  
"What?"  
  
Lorelai points to the clock. "It's time for you to meet Dean." Rory looks at the clock and groans.  
  
"No, I don't wanna!" whimpers Rory, burying her head in a pillow.  
  
"Have fun!" Lorelai chirps gaily, as Rory gets up and starts heading down the stairs.  
  
"You're an awful, cruel hearted mother! I'm going to call the child abuse hotline when I get home on the grounds that you're taking pleasure out of seeing me...agonize about this."  
  
"Fine, you do that....I have just enough time to hide the phone from you...."  
  
***  
  
  
  
Rory walks into Luke's, where Dean is already waiting at a table. He sees her and smiles as he waves to her.  
  
"Hey Rory." Dean tries to give Rory a kiss on the mouth, but she turns and he gets to kiss her cheek.  
  
"Hey Dean." Rory says, running though what she is going to say.  
  
"So?", he looks at expectantly, "What did you need to tell me?"  
  
"Dean....I've been thinking lately. Thinking about us. We're, stuck. Stuck in a rut. We do the same boring things over and over, and it gets tiring sometimes. And then lately I've been so busy with this play, and we've barley even had time to see each other. So what I'm trying to say is...." Rory pauses to try and word it so his feeling don't get hurt, but then realizes that her mom is right, there is no 'nice' way.  
  
Rory looks at Dean and sees his adorable, unsuspecting face creased with worry lines, as he tries to figure out what's wrong, and she realizes she can't do it. She can't break up with him because it would absolutely kill him, and she realizes she's not ready to let go of this relationship yet. She feels safe and contented, and doesn't want to go into unfamiliar territory. So she opts for the easy way out. "I think we should add some diversity to our lives, try some different things. Instead of always doing the same old stuff, why don't we venture out into the world, and see what else there is to do?"  
  
Dean sighs in relief. "Whew! That's it? By the way you were talking, I was afraid you were tired of me! But you're only talking about variety. Okay, I can do variety. Next Saturday, we are going to something totally new and exciting, okay? Leave it all to me!"  
  
Rory looks at his excited face with a sinking feeling in her stomach and she fully understands what she has just done. She forces a smile as Dean talks animatedly, and sighs inwardly.  
  
***  
  
  
  
"You did what?" Lane guffaws as she sits on the couch at Rory's house and listens to Rory. "Variety, yeah, variety of other guys!"  
  
Rory shoots Lane an annoyed look. "Guys, will you cut it out? I just, I couldn't do it, when I saw his face and realized that it would be full of hurt when I said that I was going to dump him."  
  
"So what? You're just going to stay with him out of pity while Tristan moves on to somebody who actually wants to be with him?" Lorelai interjects as she comes into the room, carrying sodas for the three of them.  
  
"No!" Rory protests. " Well, yes, but....only until I figure out what I'm going to do! I am going to break up with him eventually, just, not now. The timing isn't right."  
  
Lorelai stifles a giggle and Rory glares at her. "What? It's true!" Rory defends herself.  
  
"Yeah, maybe when Dean dies after being married to you for eighty hundred years you and Tristan can finally get together!"  
  
"Oh, really funny Lane. You could at least offer your supposedly BEST FRIEND some support. But no! You're just like her!" Rory points at Lorelai accusingly, and Lorelai just giggles some more.  
  
"I'm sorry babe. But I can just picture you, trying to break up with him as he sits there, with a dumb look on his face as he tries to figure out what's going on. 'What Rory? You want variety? How about instead of eating at Luke's at five o' clock we eat at five o' one....that's new and exciting!" Lorelai uses what she has named her 'Dean' voice and Lane struggles to control her laughter.  
  
"Yeah, you go ahead and laugh at your only daughter as she is suffering, that's real nice of you." Rory says distressfully.  
  
Lorelai and Lane quiet down. " We're sorry, Rory, really, but you really should have broken up with him. It's just going to hurt him more when you finally DO break up with him." Lorelai says gently.  
  
"But maybe we'll get out of our rut and I'll find out that Dean is the one for me after all? And that Tristan was just a, momentary insanity that I had? Then I won't have to break up with him at all!" Rory says. Lorelai just shrugs.  
  
"Sure, maybe that will happen."  
  
"We're praying for you." Lane adds, standing up. "And I really mean that, I have to get home for Confession. My mom thinks it would be a good idea to get all my sins out." Lane rolls her eyes. "See you later. I'll call you!"  
  
"Okay, bye Lane!" Rory calls out as she starts heading outside.  
  
"What am I going to do Mom? Tristan is going to be so angry when he finds out that I chickened out. He was so excited. Well, actually, that's not quite true. He was actually sort of hesitant. He was all like, yeah, maybe we should wait before jumping into a relationship." Rory adopts a 'Tristan' voice. In her normal voice she says, "Can you believe that? After all this time, now he doesn't want to be with me?"  
  
Lorelai looks at her cautiously. "Well, he probably doesn't want to get hurt again, sweetie. He's afraid you're going to trample all over his precious little heart. I think it's sweet that he's being cautious."  
  
"Yeah you would, it's not YOU he's turning down a relationship with." Rory says scornfully.  
  
"How could anybody turn THIS down?" Lorelai smiles in an exaggerated sexy way and thrusts out her chest, and suddenly a pillow hits her in the face. Rory smiles innocently.  
  
"Hey! You're going to pay for that!"  
  
***  
  
  
  
Rory walks down the hallway of Chilton and into the auditorium. Tristan's there, and so is everyone else. Except, Rory notes, Paris.  
  
"Hey Louise. Where's Paris?" Rory says, avoiding Tristan's stare.  
  
Louise looks up from her task of painting her nails. "She's home sick. She actually wanted to come to school, no big surprise there, but she has like, a 103 degree fever, so her care taker made her stay home. She called me up at like six this morning, insisting that I make sure everyone works hard today. I said I would. And it's true! I am working very hard....on my nails. She should have been more specific." Louise laughs, and continues her work.  
  
"Okay, well, thanks for telling me, Louise." Rory takes a seat near them, praying that Tristan won't talk to her today.  
  
"No prob. So are you and your really cute boyfriend still together?" Louise asks without looking up. Rory isn't sure how to answer, and she decides to tell the truth.  
  
"Yeah, we're still together." Rory sighs.  
  
"Oh wow, I didn't think you were, judging by those hot and steamy kisses you've been sharing with Tristan." Louise gives Rory a sly smile.  
  
Madeline, who's also been working on her nails, jumps into the conversation. "Yeah, and you know that Tristan is completely hot for you, right?"  
  
Louise gives Madeline a 'duh' look. "Maddy, you'd have to be living under a rock not to know that."  
  
"I was just saying!" Madeline says in her defense.  
  
Rory takes out her script to start running through her lines. Louise looks at her in disbelief.  
  
"Don't tell me that you're actually going to work on the play today, not when Slave driver Paris is finally absent!" Louise looks disgusted.  
  
"But the play is really soon!" Rory protests.  
  
"And going one day without practicing your lines isn't going to kill you. Come on, you can do your nails. I have more colors, if you want." Louise offered generously.  
  
Rory was about to turn her down, but then she realizes that Louise is right. "Sure, what the hell. Do you have 'Crimson Rose'?"  
  
"That's the spirit." Louise digs around in her handbag and produces a dark colored bottle. "Ooh...try this one, it's called, 'Deceit'"  
  
***  
  
  
  
Meanwhile, on the other side of the room,  
  
  
  
Tristan looks wistfully over in Rory's direction, where she is busy laughing at something Louise had said.  
  
"She looks so pretty today....I wonder if it's too soon to ask her out." Tristan muses.  
  
Robbie, who is playing Harry Zidler, glances over to where Tristan is staring. "Who, Rory? Man, I thought you guys were already going out, from the way you were kissing her earlier this week."  
  
Tristan turns to Robbie and sighs. "No I wish. Up until recently, she's been involved in another relationship and couldn't stand me. Then we kissed a few times, she found that there was some passion, and now her and Bag Boy, her boyfriend, are history, so I might actually get a shot."  
  
Robbie laughs, and Tristan gets irritated. "What's so funny?"  
  
"It's just that you've always been able to get any girl you've wanted, no problem at all, and now that's all changed. Yet you're still trying hard to get her. You must really want to sleep with her."  
  
Tristan, who had been doodling R+T 4 EVA, on his script, snaps his head up in anger. "Dude, it's not like that. I really like this girl. Yeah, sure, at first, I just wanted to have dirty, animal sex with her, but now..." Tristan glances once more at Rory, who is admiring her newly painted fingernails. She sees Tristan staring, and turns away, embarrassed.  
  
"Now, it's like, I think I could actually have a relationship with her. A serious one. So don't go around saying stuff like that, okay?" Tristan says sternly while glaring at Robbie.  
  
Robbie, who finds the whole thing amusing, doesn't quite believe what Tristan is saying. How can someone so into the whole, 'look at me, I'm free of commitment' suddenly want to get 'serious'? Robbie wants to ask Tristan this, but seeing as though Tristan looks like he could kick somebody's ass right now, he decides to stay silent.  
  
"I'm done waiting! I'm going to ask Rory out for Saturday night!" Tristan declares decisively. He starts to get up and go over to Rory, but the bell rings, signaling the end of class. Rory takes off, and sighs disappointedly.  
  
"Bad timing bells." He glares up at the ceiling and groans.  
  
***  
  
Authors Note: yes I know, it's a weird place to end it, but trust me, Part 5 will be out really soon, I promise. I've already started writing it, and it's pretty good, I think. And my other story that I recently started, Just That Good, will be continued too.....you know, writing that really did help cure my writer's block, so you should go thank it! Lol, I'm just kidding! Don't forget to review, I want to know what everyone thinks! Good, bad, whatever. I'll take it any way I can get it :) 


	5. Like A Virgin

See chap 1 for info  
  
Authors Note: Thanks to all who reviewed, I really love reviews, I mean, who doesn't? Unless they're bad, which I haven't really gotten. So thanks! It makes me feel special.... Oh, and there's Trory interaction, but no happy moments, this is going to be a angst chapter, I think. Maybe not. One never knows. Ooh, but there is singing! Don't forget to review!  
  
  
  
Chapter Five: Like A Virgin  
  
Rory is stuffing books into her locker when she hears someone calling her name .  
  
"Rory!" She looks up and sees Tristan moving through the crowd of students toward her locker. She sighs and turns back to her locker, hoping that he's only stopping by to say hello.  
  
"Hey Rory." Tristan says, pushing past some freshman girls who are openly staring at him in awe.  
  
"Hey." Rory replies, all her concentration on her locker. Tristan leans against the locker next to hers like he always does and looks confident.  
  
"I've got something to ask you." He says self-assuredly. Rory slams her locker shut and starts heading for the doors to the parking lot and the bus stop. Tristan follows after her.  
  
"What is it?" Rory says nervously. "Are you going to ask me something about the play?"  
  
"No...I'm going to ask you if you want to do something non-play related on Saturday night." Tristan grins like a little kid.  
  
"Like a date?" Rory asks uneasily.  
  
"Yep. You me, a movie, preferably in English, but subtitles will do. It's not like we'll really be watching it anyway, right? Oh, and dinner at that new French restaurant that just opened at the mall. Sound good?"  
  
Rory sighs again and stops where she is. "Tristan...." she starts. "I don't know how to say this, so I'm just going to say it. I've decided not to break up with Dean after all, I'm sorry."  
  
Rory looks down at her shoes, which is a good thing, because had she looked up, she would have seen the smile vanish from Tristan's face and a look of absolute heartbreak on his face. By the time Rory looks up to see his reaction, Tristan has managed to put a faux smile on his face to mask his feelings. "So there's no chance for us?"  
  
"I'm afraid not." Rory says steadily, ignoring her mind, which is screaming, NO! You're making a mistake!  
  
"Oh, I see. Well, no big deal, these things happen, right? I guess I was imagining things when I thought there might actually be chemistry between us. I mean, someone like ME, would never have been able to go out with someone like YOU..."  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Rory says suspiciously.  
  
"Nothing. Just that I usually go out with girls who have more experience, if you know what I mean. But maybe that's why I was attracted to you.... " Tristan stops abruptly and walks away.  
  
Rory's bus comes, and she busies herself with thoughts of Dean. But she can't help thinking about the fact that Tristan didn't even seem like he cared.  
  
***  
  
"Hello is Rory there?" came a voice through the phone.  
  
"Yeah, this is her, what's up?" Rory looks around her kitchen, searching for food, and finds a lone Pop Tart. She sits down at the kitchen table.  
  
"This is Paris. Do you have the homework assignment for English? I outlined Chapter Three while I was sick, but I don't know the assignment."  
  
"Oh, okay, we were supposed to write an essay on why non-fiction isn't necessarily 'real', it's just another aspect of fiction. Or if we disagree, we state our argument in essay form. And there's also questions that we have to answer on page 103. Oh, and in Chem. we took notes. You can borrow mine tomorrow if you like." Rory offers, while munching on her Pop-Tart.  
  
"Really? That would be great. So how was rehearsal today?" Paris asks, worriedly. "Did you guys get a lot done without me there?"  
  
"Um, yeah, we got lots done." Rory lies, looking at her newly polished nails, knowing Paris would freak out if she knew that nobody did anything play related.  
  
"Okay, that's good." Paris says in relief. There's a silence, and Paris clears her throat. "Well, I better go and get started on my homework. Thanks again, see you tomorrow." She hangs up, without waiting for Rory to say good-bye.  
  
Lorelai comes through the door happily. She stops when she sees Rory eating a Pop Tart.  
  
"Hey! That better not be the last Pop Tart!"  
  
"Um, oops?" Rory says guiltily. " I'm sorry. I was hungry, and this is the only thing in the house!"  
  
"Fine, but you're coming to Luke's with me." Lorelai sets down her car keys and sits down next to Rory. "So how did things go with Tristan today?"  
  
"Well, I managed to avoid him up until after school, but then he cornered be and asked me out for Saturday. I said no, and he acted like he was fine with it. Which he probably was. I mean, who knows with Tristan. I don't have the time to dwell on this, it's better this way."  
  
"Ahhh.....! God, you know how when you see one of those cheesy love movies when the two main characters ALMOST get together so many times, but don't until the very last scene and all throughout the movie you just want to slap them and tell them to get together already? I so feel that way about you right now. I mean, I'm all for Dean, but if you don't love him anymore, just frickin tell him! You should be more like me. Just don't give a damn about the male species feelings. It works much better." Lorelai heaves a great dramatic sigh, and reaches for a piece of Rory's Pop Tart.  
  
"Yeah, and we know how well THAT works."  
  
Lorelai looks at Rory openmouthed. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"  
  
"Well, lets see, you didn't marry Dad, even though he's asked you, like a million times, and then you practically left Max at the alter. And then there's Luke. The poor guy has been in love with you for years, and you obliviously see him only as our 'coffee guy'. Your way of handling guys is not the greatest, Mom." Rory says, not noticing her mother's increasing anger and hurt to these comments.  
  
"Excuse me? That was completely out of line, Rory! I know I encourage for you to voice your opinions, but that was outright mean!" Lorelai says, hurt.  
  
"I'm sorry, but it IS the truth, is it not?" Rory looks nonchalant.  
  
"It's not very fair of you to judge me so harshly. What brought this on? Is it the whole thing with Tristan and Dean? I mean, I sympathize with you, but don't take it out on me, I don't deserve it! And it is actually not your decision when I decide if I want to marry someone or not."  
  
"Well, it affects me, doesn't it? Every time I see Mr. Medina, he avoids looking me in the eye. I wonder why that is..."  
  
"You know what? I really don't want to listen to this, I'm sick of being blamed for that....it's in the past, Rory. Why did you drudge it up? And why don't you give me an answer when you're ready to actually talk, not just give scathing remarks." Lorelai stands up and heads for the door. "I'm going to Luke's. You can come, if you're going to behave. If not, then don't bother. Nobody likes childish behavior."  
  
The door slams, and Rory groans and bangs her head down on the table. She really didn't mean to pick a fight with her mom, but she can't figure out why Tristan didn't seem to care about her. She couldn't figure out why she felt so down. She was making the RIGHT decision, by staying with Dean.  
  
Did he really mean what he said? Rory wonders, That he was only in it for the sex? Probably. It's a good thing I stopped myself, because I almost fell for him.  
  
What do you mean almost?, a voice in the back of Rory's head taunts. You've already fallen, in case you haven't noticed. Irreversibly and completely fallen.  
  
"No." Rory says aloud to no one. She stands up and heads for her bedroom, slamming the door as she walks in.  
  
***  
  
  
  
"The French are glad to die for love." Satine sings out. There's a hush among everybody, for they are supposed to be in awe. Tristan is not looking at her, he's flirting with one of the courtesans. Paris is busy sorting through the costumes, and everybody else is bored ot of their minds.  
  
"Look like you're in awe, people!" Paris yells out in irritation. "We're all bored and want to get out of here, but we're not leaving until we get his done! Rory, start over!"  
  
Rory sighs, and plasters a sexy, alluring smile on her face. "The French are glad to die for love. They engage in fighting duels. But I prefer a man who lives, and gives expensive, things."  
  
Music breaks out of the speakers, and Rory spins around and jumps off the stage, landing near one of the men who are ''stupefied".  
  
"A kiss on the hand may be quite continental, but diamonds are a girls best friend." Rory trills. "A kiss may be grand, but it won't pay the rental on your humble flat, or help you feed your helpless pussycat."  
  
"Men grow cold, as" Rory casts a look in Tristan's direction, "girls grow old, and we all lose our charms in the end. But square cut or pear shaped, these rocks don't lose their shape! Diamonds are a girls best friend!"  
  
"...Tiffany!... Cartier!" Rory, in actuality, hates this song because it embodies the superficial world in which we live in. But that doesn't mean she gets out of singing it.  
  
"Cause we are living in a material world, and I am a material girl!" Satine makes her way around the area where everyone is standing, looking at her as if she's not real. "Black Star, Ross Cole! Talk to me Harry Zidler, tell me all about it!" Harry comes out, and Satine goes around to the dressing area, still singing.  
  
"There may come a time when a lass needs a lawyer, but diamonds are a girls best friend! There may come a time when a hard boiled employer thinks you're awful nice, but get that ice or else no dice!"  
  
The other courtesans start singing. "He's your guy when the stocks are high, but beware when they start to descend. Ooh diamonds are a girls best, diamonds are a girls best, diamonds are a girls best friend!"  
  
Satine comes out from the dressing area, dressed in a different costume. "Cause that's when those louses go back to their spouses. Diamonds are a girls best, friend." She ends that last note, and then proceeds to faint.  
  
The male courtesan rushes over and gets her offstage, and that's when the scene ends. Tristan barely pays attention and Paris calls him on it.  
  
"Good job everyone...DuGrey, you didn't have any lines in the scene, but you still had to pay attention! I didn't see your head look Rory's way once. Next time, do it right!"  
  
Tristan mock salutes her. "Yes sir! Will do sir!" He goes back to flirting with the girl.  
  
"This isn't a laughing matter Tristan! I'm not laughing! We have three weeks left, and if you do anything to screw the play up, I'll kill you! You understand?"  
  
Tristan rolls his eyes. "Yes Paris. Now leave me alone, can't you see I'm busy?"  
  
The girl he's been flirting with, Marcy, pipes up. "Maybe you shouldn't be so hard on him. After all, he is doing the best he can."  
  
Paris send Marcy a look so cold it could have frozen her in an instant. Marcy shirks back and winces. Tristan puts his arm around her and gives Paris a wink.  
  
Paris turns away, disgusted and marches over to Rory, who has just finished putting her Chilton uniform back on.  
  
"So how well do the costumes fit?" Paris asks. Rory shrugs.  
  
"Pretty well. The one I was just wearing is hard to get on, though."  
  
"Hmm....I'll take it to the dressmaker to see if she can make it easier. So what's up with you and Tristan?"  
  
"Paris!" Rory groans. "There is nothing going on with me and Tristan! I have a boyfriend, remember?"  
  
"Oh, come off it, Rory! Everybody in the play can see that there something between you two. You guys are either too stubborn or too dense to realize it and just get together already!"  
  
"No, I just don't want to be with him, because he's a complete user. Once he gets me to have sex with him, he'll leave me in a flash for the next 'Mary'" Rory says stiffly.  
  
Paris looks Rory straight in the eye. "True, Tristan has a problem with commitment, but I've never seen him behave like this. I think it started out a game, but now, he's fallen for you. I wish it weren't you, because it's really hard to hate you, but I do pretty good at it, don't I?"  
  
Rory grins at Paris. "Yes, you are very good at hating me. You could found the 'I hate Rory' club, and add it onto your extracurricular list. Harvard would love it!"  
  
Paris laughs. "Oh yes, I can see it now. Extracurriculars? Well, she was editor of the school paper and she also founded the 'I hate Rory' club, of which she was president and the only member of."  
  
"I'm sure there would be more members. Tristan could be vice president. Oh no wait, he can't, he's already in the, 'Nail em and bail em' club. Sorry, that takes up all his time."  
  
Paris laughs, then turns grave. "Seriously, Tristan really likes you, and if you guys just let this opportunity pass you by and leave it as a could've been, then both of you should be kicked out of Chilton."  
  
"For stupidity?"  
  
"No, with you gone, I would be the smartest girl at Chilton again, and a shoe-in for valedictorian, and with Tristan gone, well, I think that would just be good for mankind!"  
  
"Figures." Rory laughs. Paris smiles again, which is a rarity that Rory is seeing more and more.  
  
"Okay, well, I gotta go check on how the people painting the sets are doing. If they've screwed up..." Paris walks away, muttering to herself. Rory watches her go, and ponders what Paris said.  
  
***  
  
  
  
"Dean, where are you taking me?" Rory says laughingly, a blindfold over her eyes.  
  
"I can't tell you, now stop asking!" Dean says, for the fifth time.  
  
"I'll stop asking once you tell me!"  
  
"Argh! We're here, now you can take off your blindfold!"  
  
Rory takes off her blindfold, and looks around in awe. They are in the heart of Boston, outside of a bookstore.  
  
"There's a book signing and a poetry reading going on." Dean explains. Rory looks as him excitedly and beams.  
  
"Are you serious!? You are the best boyfriend ever! I love you." The words just come out of her mouth before she even realizes it, but they make Dean very happy.  
  
"I know. Now let's go! Cause afterwards we're going to see that new Tim Allen movie."  
  
"I knew there was a catch. Do we have to see that movie? I heard it sucked." Rory whined as they walked into the bookstore.  
  
"Yep. We're compromising. I'm doing this thing with you, and you're watching the movie with me."  
  
"Fine but if the movie sucks, then you are so NOT my boyfriend anymore!" Rory threatens, jokingly. Dean pretends to look wounded, and Rory leans up and kisses his cheek. "I'm just kidding, Dean, even if the movie is the worse than 'Glitter' I'll still love you."  
  
They walk into the bookstore holding hands, and at the moment, all thoughts of Tristan are forgotten.  
  
***  
  
  
  
Rory browses though the books, waiting for Dean while he goes to get some coffee for them. She's looking in the 'Humor' section, when she sees a familiar face.  
  
She groans. "Oh no. Not you. Go away."  
  
"Mary, you know you love me." Tristan smirks, but really, he is just as shocked as Rory is. He came with his grandfather to Boston to get away from Hartford, hoping to forget about Rory.  
  
Rory starts to walk away. "I don't want Dean to see you, leave me alone!"  
  
"Mary, Mary. Is that any way to behave towards your love?" Tristan says admonishingly.  
  
"Tristan, get it through your head. We are only an on-stage couple. Once the curtain goes down, I'm back to loathing you." Rory spits out.  
  
"You wound me with your hateful words. No one would be able to ever guess that we've kissed so many times out of pure, unadulterated love for each other."  
  
"I'm not going to do this with you, Tristan. For the last time, will you leave me alone? I'm here on a date with Dean!"  
  
Tristan's heart drops when he hears that, but on the outside, he just keeps his smirk on firmly.  
  
"Oh, so the Beave can read? Wow, shocker."  
  
"You know, people could say the same about you." Rory retorts. "What are you doing here, anyway? Are you stalking me now or something?"  
  
"And you say I have a big ego. We happen to run into each other, and she automatically assumes that I'm here for her. For your information, I came here with my grandfather for the poetry reading." Tristan says defensively.  
  
"Really?" Rory knows she shouldn't be talking to him, but she can't seem to stop. "What happened to your big Saturday night date with Marcy?"  
  
"You heard about that?"  
  
"Yeah, it sort of tipped me off when she screamed down the hall, "See you Saturday night, Tristan!" I see you're keeping up your pattern of the absolute geniuses, Tristan."  
  
"Yeah, well, I try, I really do. And as much as I would love to stay and chat, Mary, I have to go find my grandfather."  
  
"What? You don't want to stay and chat with Dean? You guys never did get to build that clubhouse, did you?" Rory says sarcastically.  
  
"Rory? Where are you?" Rory hears Dean's voice a few aisles over and she turns to Tristan urgently. "You have to go, Tristan!"  
  
"Dean, we're over here!" Tristan calls out cheerfully. "My grandfather won't mind if I stay and chat with you for a little longer."  
  
"Rory, who's with you?" Dean finally comes into view, and he gets a look of disgust and anger on his face when he sees Tristan.  
  
"What the hell are you doing here?" Dean demands. "You decided that hassling my girlfriend at school and at those stupid play rehearsals isn't enough, now you have to bother her on her dates? I suggest you leave, I don't want to cause a scene."  
  
"I wasn't hassling your girlfriend. We just happened to run into each other, and we had a lovely conversation. It was simply fascinating. And you know, I've been meaning to ask you, when are the green beans going on sale? I need my vegetables. I'm a growing boy, you know." Tristan leers at Rory, as Dean glowers at him.  
  
"Look, man, could you just leave us alone? Rory sees enough of your ugly face as it is."  
  
"Ugly? Oh, Dean! I'm devastated! I'm crying!" Tristan glances over at Rory, who is tugging on Dean's hand. "Or maybe I'm singing."  
  
"Whatever, Tristan. I don't care. We're leaving, Dean." Rory says, shooting a nasty look over at Tristan.  
  
"But we haven't even seen the poetry reading yet!" Dean protests, "We shouldn't leave on account of HIM."  
  
"But I want to!" Rory says urgently. "We can go get dinner before the movie."  
  
"Which movie are you seeing?" Tristan asks, butting right into their conversation. Dean glares angrily at him.  
  
"None of your goddamned business, Dristan."  
  
"Oh, we're breaking out the big insults, are we?" Tristan replied flippantly.  
  
"Dean, let's go! He's not worth our time!" Rory is almost at wit's end, wanting to go as soon as possible, before anything damaging can be said.  
  
"No, wait, Rory. I've got a bone to pick with this guy." Dean says, shrugging off Rory's hand.  
  
"Dean! You're ruining our date!" Rory cries. Dean realizes that by acting like the macho man he tries to be, that he's only losing the girl in return.  
  
"I'm sorry, Rory. We'll just leave."  
  
"Aw, I'm all alone now! Some people are just so rude!" Tristan calls out as they leave. As soon as they're out the door, Tristan, who had been standing ram-rod straight, slouched down in depression.  
  
I shouldn't have said anything to Rory at all. I'm never going to get over her if I keep speaking to her. But she just, looked so pretty, standing there all alone, reading a book, Tristan thinks, ambling over to his grandfather.  
  
"Where have you been?" his grandfather orders. "The reading is about to start!"  
  
"Sorry Grandpa. I ran into some friends." Tristan says sheepishly. His grandfather nods understandingly.  
  
"You ran into a cute girl, didn't you? Have you been in the 'Romance' section, doing a little of your own, 'Romance reading'?"  
  
"Grandpa, that was so lame! You're losing your touch as you get more senile." Tristan laughs.  
  
His grandpa shook his fist menacingly. "You watch it, now! I am not senile! I am just, cranky. Because I didn't know where you were."  
  
"Uh-huh. Sure." Tristan sits down as a girl dressed in black and gray sits down in the chair in the front of the room.  
  
"Hello. My name is Maria Marris. I will be reading the poem that I wrote..."  
  
"I am NOT senile!" his grandpa whispers to Tristan loudly.  
  
"Grandpa, shut up!"  
  
"Don't tell me to shut up, boy! Or I'll tell that girl you were making out with that you still sleep with Mr. Bear.'  
  
"But I haven't slept with Mr. Bear for years, Grandpa." Tristan says in confusion.  
  
"Oh....just, shut up, I'm trying to listen to Mia."  
  
Their talking comes to a halt and Tristan tries to focus on the poetry, but he can't stop thinking about Rory and Dean. His grandpa nudges him.  
  
"Are you listening to Mira? She's really good. That last poem was just, fascinating.....Can we go home? I'm bored." Tristan's grandpa whines.  
  
Tristan sighs. " Grandpa, we're only on the first poet...there's still five more to go."  
  
"I'll buy you a Slurpee on the way home."  
  
"Gee, with an offer like that, how can I refuse? Grandpa, FYI, I stopped accepting bribery by Slurpee payment years ago. Now it's cars."  
  
"Good boy. Grandpa has taught you well."  
  
"Don't I know it. Let's go, Grandpa. I'll even pay for the Slurpee."  
  
"Take back the senile comment though."  
  
"Never, in a million years, senile old man."  
  
***  
  
  
  
Authors Note: Sorry Part 5 is late, I've been in Lazy mode, and haven't wanted to write. And I'm very sorry about the R/D scene, but it had to be done! Don't worry, I think all will be well with Trory in the next Chapter or so. I don't think I'm going to have too many more chapter, cause it would be bad if I dragged it out. So, tell me what you think! That means, review, damn it! I'm just kidding....it means, review, damn it, please. Isn't that much better? 


	6. ...Is Just to Love, and be Loved in Retu...

Authors Note: Well, here it is, chapter 6....the final chapter in this story. It's shorter than the other chapters, but it's still a pretty good conclusion. After you read it, don't forget to review, I'm anxious to find out what everyone thought about it. Okay, so without any further ado, here it is!  
  
The Greatest Thing You'll Ever Learn....  
  
  
  
Chapter 6: ...Is Just to Love and be Loved in Return  
  
  
  
  
  
Dean and Rory exit the bookstore quietly. Dean is busy seething over Tristan, and Rory is just glad that she got out of there before the truth about her and Tristan came out.  
  
"Man! I really can't stand that guy! He is so irritating, I just want to bash his face in!" Dean clenches his fists and scowls. Rory looks back at the bookstore wistfully, wishing she could be in there with Tristan instead of out here with Dean.  
  
"Dean, he's not that bad of a person once you get to know him. He acts like a jerk to cover the real person inside. He's actually a very sweet and thoughtful person," Rory protests, as she is a strong believer that everybody has a little bit of good inside them.  
  
"Rory, don't defend that creep! He's just a rich, spoiled asshole who has some twisted desire to sleep with you so he can brag to all his friends that he scored a 'Mary'," Dean replies angrily.  
  
"That's not true, Dean!" Rory argues. "That jerk back at the bookstore is not the real Tristan, it's just a facade. The Tristan I know is gentle, kind, and has different layers. The Tristan that I've gotten to know is more like Christian, not the Duke!"  
  
"Rory will you stop defending him?! He doesn't deserve it! I think you're completely wrong about him. I think that you're confusing the part he's playing and the person he really is, which is exactly what he wants you to do! And of course, since you believe that nobody can do wrong, you're actually falling right for his little act!" Dean slams his hand on his car in frustration. "If I didn't know better, I'd say that you actually liked that moron!"  
  
Rory just stares down at her shoes, and Dean gapes at her.  
  
"You do, don't you." It's not a so much of a question, as it is a statement. It hangs in the misty and cold night air for a minute as Rory ponders what to say. She decides to stick with the safe tactic of denial.  
  
"No, I don't! Dean...I love you!" Dean puts up his hand to stop her from speaking anymore. He doesn't seem angry, just defeated, like he just lost a big battle.  
  
"It's okay, Rory. I'm not angry with you, I just pity you. I pity you because you're in love with a person that doesn't exist."  
  
"You're wrong, Dean!" Rory insists passionately. "That person does exist, he's standing in that bookstore, probably wondering why he screwed up again, why he can't keep his big mouth shut."  
  
"Actually, I was wondering who on earth could be making so much noise that we can hear them from all the way down the street," an amused voice interjects.  
  
Rory turns around and sees Tristan standing there with an elderly man by his side.  
  
"Tristan! What... why, why aren't you listening to the poetry reading?" Rory sputters, flustered.  
  
"Why should I be in there listening to dull, unexciting poets, when I could be out here, where all the drama and excitement is?"  
  
"Rory, as pleasant as it is to see rich boy again in the space of ten minutes, I'm going to leave...you can either leave with me, or hitch a ride back with lover boy over there," Dean says angrily, while jerking his thumb in Tristan's direction.  
  
"Dean! You can't be telling me that you'd leave me here?" Rory gasps, surprised.  
  
"Is that any way to treat a lady?" the old man butts in with a smirk identical to Tristan's. "Why, in my day, boys didn't drive off, leaving their dates behind."  
  
"Grandpa, in your day, they didn't have cars to drive off in. The wheel wasn't even invented yet," Tristan retorts. Grandpa shakes his fist threateningly at Tristan, but Tristan just smirks.  
  
"Rory.... what'll it be? I'm leaving right now." Dean starts getting into the car. He doesn't want to leave, he wants to fight for Rory until she chooses him, but he knows that it's useless, and that it's finally time to let go of her.  
  
Rory stands there, and looks at Dean, who looks resigned, like he knows who Rory is going to choose. She then turns around, where Tristan is, standing there looking hopeful. Tristan's grandfather quirks an eyebrow at Rory, as if to say, 'well, who's it gonna be'?  
  
She thinks about Dean, and how happy he has made her over the past year; how safe she feels with him. Then her mind flashes over to Tristan, and her heart skips a beat. She thinks about all their missed chances, and how he makes her feel.  
  
She knows now who she wants to be with. With that, comes a startling clarity. For once, she knows she is making the right decision.  
  
No regrets, Rory tells herself sternly. Seize the moment!  
  
Rory turns back to Dean and heads for his car.  
  
Tristan's heart drops to his stomach; everything looks hazy through his eyes, which have become blurry with tears, tears that he can't seem to control. He turns to his grandfather and motions that he wants to get out of there. He wants to be anywhere but here, where he thinks that there's going to be a repeat scene of Dean and Rory kissing, while he stands there stupidly, with Rory's books in his hand. He turns to leave, but his grandpa stops him with his hand and glowers at Tristan.  
  
"Just wait, boy," he whispers knowingly, "for once in your life, be patient!"  
  
Tristan watches on as Rory bends down and leans into the car window so she's level with Dean. He strains to hear what she's saying, and as the words process in his brain, he's struck dumb with shock.  
  
"Dean...I will always love you. I know it sounds corny and you probably think I'm saying it just to make you feel better. But I'm not. I gave a part of my heart to you, and that part is yours forever. But I have to start giving my heart to other people. And you do too. Trust me on this. I know you probably won't want to be friends with me for awhile, but I hope that someday, we can be. You're an important person in my life, Dean. Don't forget that. Take care of yourself." With that, she kisses Dean on the cheek and watches as he drives away.  
  
Tristan mentally cheers himself on, happy that he FINALLY gets the girl.  
  
As soon as Dean's car is out of sight, Rory tentatively walks over to a stunned Tristan and his grandpa, who seems to have a perpetual smirk on his face.  
  
"Hey," she says nervously, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.  
  
"What was that?" Tristan asks, wanting her to confirm that she has finally let go of Dean.  
  
"I broke up with Dean. I want to be with you. I don't know how long this will last, or if we'll make a good couple, but I do know you make me happy. I also know I can make you happy too. I am so tired of playing it safe all the time. Tristan, I don't want to be boring anymore! I want to live like there's no tomorrow."  
  
Tristan just stares at her in wonderment for a minute, causing Rory to grow worried.  
  
"Say something Tristan!"  
  
"I'm sorry," he says slowly, a small grin spreading across his face. "But you, Rory Mary Gilmore, are anything but boring."  
  
Rory breaks out into a broad smile and Tristan takes a step, closing the space between them. He engulfs her in his arms and as he leans down to kiss her, he whispers in her ear,  
  
"You know what I learned throughout all this?"  
  
Rory looks up at him, curiosity and laughter in her eyes. "What?"  
  
"That the greatest thing that you'll ever learn..." Rory groans and playfully swats him on the arm, but he continues, "is just to love."  
  
"And be loved in return," Rory finishes for him. She rolls her eyes good- naturedly. "God Tristan, how cliched can you be? That was like a cheesy ending to a really bad eighties movie!" Rory glances down the street that Dean had driven off on. "Say things like that, and I might want to reconsider my decision...maybe I can still catch up with Dean's car, if I- ..."  
  
Rory never gets to finish her rant though, because Tristan silences her the good old-fashioned way: With a kiss.  
  
  
  
  
  
The End 


End file.
